Tales & Traditions: Edmondson Family- Gentry, AR

I'm finally making some progress on getting ya'll caught up with Tales & Traditions story previews. I only have TWO more stories to write + it's game on from there.

A few months ago I hung out with Bud + Gerald Edmondson- here is a look into what I learned--

“In ’67 I went with Phillip and Jim Edmondson, no relation to us, to Joplin (Regional Stockyards). He had some of the best Herefords in the country. Phillip had the Charolais calves. Both sets of calves sold at the same time to the same person. The Charolais calves were big enough they brought $25 a head more than the Hereford calves,” explained Bud. “That is what convinced me to get a Charolais bull. All it took was trying them and I was hooked on Charolais cattle. I guess they aren’t for everybody but they have been good to us. The boys grew up with them. They developed their own herds and we went from there.”

Bud is now 84 and maintained his Charolais herd until two years ago.

“I sold my cows but being an old man that just couldn’t stop, I got five acres and a few bulls that I have for sale now that I bought off Gerald when they were weaned off the cows. I raised them out to be breeding bulls,” said Bud.

Gerald believes the secret to success, longevity and keeping the family tradition alive is persistence.

“Growing up and working as hard as we did, our dad had quite an influence on us because even the hard work he had a way of making fun. For a lot of people, I know it was a grind and I’m sure it was a grind at times for us. There were stressful times and scary times but for the most part he always had a good attitude,” described Gerald. “It was early mornings and late nights but somehow, someway, it was fun enough, it was the cowboy way and it was fun. It was something our dad engaged us in every aspect of it.”

The lifestyle that Bud instilled in Gerald is something that he doesn’t take lightly.

“It’s a passion that is in your blood. It’s something that for generations you have learned how to do it and how to make it profitable, even in hard times. There is an art to it and a science to it. We do it because we love to do it,” said Gerald.

Reflecting on how the elder Edmondson lived his life, Gerald has no doubt about the legacy he hopes to leave behind someday.

“It would be, number one, that you treat people right,” said Gerald.

Read the full story and see ALL of the never before seen photos in my upcoming book 'Tales and Traditions: the Steadfast Faces of Agriculture.' Details on the release date and how to purchase will be announced as soon as possible.